JP2007041395A - Material texture observing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a material texture observing device by which a replica need not be taken from a diagnosis object part and metallic texture is easily observed in a short time on the site. <P>SOLUTION: The material texture observing device is equipped with: a semiconductor laser provided in a microscope main body 15 having hermetically sealed structure and emitting a laser beam; an optical path provided in the microscope main body and bending and guiding the laser beam emitted from the semiconductor laser; an objective attached to the edge part of the optical path and capable of moving in an up-and-down direction; an image sensor provided in the optical path and receiving the reflected laser beam; a first base which supports the microscope main body 15 tiltably in a right-and-left direction; a second base to which the first base is attached; and a third base which abuts on the lower surface of the second base. The second base and the third base can move in two orthogonal axial directions. The observing device is equipped with: a moving mechanism for moving the objective, the second base and the third base; and a tilting mechanism for tilting the microscope main body 15, and further has fixed tool devices 44, 45 and 46 to be fixed on an object to be observed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a material structure observation apparatus. More specifically, in order to diagnose the degree of deterioration of a metal material due to creep damage, a laser microscope capable of directly and simply observing the metal structure of a site to be diagnosed on site is used. The present invention relates to a material structure observation apparatus.

  Power plants, chemical plants, and the like are easily damaged by being used at high temperatures and high temperatures and pressures, and require inspection and maintenance. Chrome-molybdenum steel, stainless steel, and the like used as these structural materials are subject to aging damage represented by creep damage when used for a long time.

 For this reason, in order to operate these plants safely for a long period of time, it is necessary to know the degree of creep damage received by the structural members, thereby predicting the remaining life of the equipment. Various methods have been proposed for predicting the creep life, and one of them is a method for predicting the creep life by observing the structural change accompanying the creep damage, and the number of voids generated in the crystal grains. There is a void area ratio method based on area. In this void area ratio method, a part that needs to know the creep damage is selected, a replica is collected at the site for the part and brought back, and after the metal deposition process, the void is observed by observing the creep void with a scanning electron microscope. The degree of creep damage is obtained from a test curve indicating the relationship between the degree of creep damage and the void area ratio obtained in advance.

  Further, as one of methods for evaluating the degree of creep damage, there is a method of quantifying and evaluating the extent of elongation of the crystal grains of the metal structure (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1). Take a replica of the part that needs to know the creep damage, take it home, observe the replica with a microscope, trace the crystal grain shape on the metallographic photograph on a separate sheet by hand, and place the traced shape on the image processing device. Methods for capturing and analyzing are known.

In addition, when calculating the crystal grain size of a metal material, as defined in JIS-G-0551 and JIS-G-0552, a comparative method for comparing an observed metal structure photograph with a standard figure or a fixed length A cutting method is also used in which the crystal grain size cut at two perpendicular line segments is measured. In this case as well, it is necessary to collect a replica of a site where it is necessary to know the creep damage and bring it back, and to observe the replica under a microscope.
Published by the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers “Technology for remaining life of power plants and structures”

  However, there is an inconvenience that the collection of replicas and the above evaluation require considerable skill, the diagnosis results are likely to vary due to the skill difference of the workers, and the diagnosis results cannot be output in a short time. In addition, the method of tracing the crystal grain shape by hand, and the method of measuring the crystal grain size by the comparison method and the cutting method require skill, and physical fatigue, especially eye fatigue, severely reduces the detection accuracy. To do.

  Furthermore, in the case of a general image processing technique used to detect the crystal grain shape of a metal material, it is easily affected by noise in image processing such as the appearance of metal structure photographs and dust and dust. As shown, the determined crystal grain shape is often incomplete.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the prior art, and the purpose thereof is to observe a metal structure easily and in a short time in the field without having to collect a replica from a site to be diagnosed. An object of the present invention is to provide a material structure observation apparatus capable of performing the above.

  In order to achieve the above object, the material structure observation apparatus of the present invention includes a semiconductor laser that is provided in a closed-structure microscope main body and emits a laser, and the microscope main body that bends and guides the laser emitted from the semiconductor laser. An optical path provided in the optical path, an objective lens attached to the tip of the optical path and movable in the vertical direction, an image sensor provided in the optical path for receiving the reflected laser, and the microscope main body in the horizontal direction. A first pedestal that is tiltably supported, a second pedestal to which the first pedestal is attached, and a third pedestal that comes into contact with the lower surface of the second pedestal, wherein the second pedestal and the third pedestal are orthogonal to each other in two axial directions. And a moving mechanism for moving the objective lens, the second pedestal and the third pedestal, and a tilting mechanism for tilting the microscope main body, and further, a fixed mechanism for fixing to the object to be observed. It is characterized by having a jig apparatus.

  Further, the inventor paid attention to the use of the image processing apparatus for observation of the material structure, and the material structure observation apparatus of the present invention uses the crystal grain boundaries on the image data of the metal structure photograph taken in the image processing apparatus. Center line designating means for designating the center point which is the first position inside the demarcating boundary line, closed curve setting means for setting a closed curve including the center point in the vicinity of the boundary line, and the density of image data in the vicinity of the closed curve Closed curve deforming means for deforming the closed curve based on the information, and grain boundary determining means for setting the closed curve as a crystal grain boundary when the deformed closed curve overlaps all the boundary lines defining the crystal grain boundary on the image data, A first arithmetic processing means for obtaining the degree of deformation of the crystal grain from the crystal grain boundary determined by the grain boundary determining means, and a test of the creep damage degree and the degree of crystal grain deformation of the same material stored in advance in the memory means Based on curve It is characterized by having a second arithmetic processing means for calculating the creep damage degree of crystal grains of deformation degree determined by the first processing means are.

The present invention has the following effects.
(1) According to the first aspect of the present invention, the microscope main body has a sealed structure to improve dustproofness, and a series of observation devices are attached to the object to be observed by the fixing jig device, and the second pedestal and the third pedestal Is moved by an appropriate distance in two orthogonal directions, the objective lens is moved up and down by an appropriate distance, and the microscope body is tilted to the right or left by an appropriate distance. Image data of the material structure of the observation site can be obtained continuously on site.
(2) According to the invention described in claim 2, since the heat generated by the operation of the device is discharged from the exhaust heat hood, heat that becomes an obstacle to the operation is not trapped in the device and is stable. Operation is ensured.
(3) According to the invention described in claims 3 to 6, the method is a method for deforming a closed curve that is not easily affected by noise and that is set based on the grayscale information of the image data so as to follow the crystal grain boundary. It is not necessary to collect a replica from the site, and the degree of creep damage can be diagnosed easily and in a short time on site.
(4) According to the seventh aspect of the invention, the observation device by the laser microscope and the image processing device are combined, and the image processing is performed from the collection of the image to be diagnosed in the field, and the creep damage is prevented. All operations up to the diagnosis can be automatically performed.

The material structure observation apparatus of the present invention includes an objective lens that is movable in the vertical direction, a second pedestal and a third pedestal that are movable in two orthogonal directions, and the microscope body is tiltable in the left-right direction. However, the present invention can exhibit a remarkable effect when combined with an image processing apparatus. Therefore, a material structure observation method and a creep diagnosis method using an image processing apparatus will be described.
1. Appearance of crystal grain boundaries due to pretreatment The target material is mechanically polished with Emily paper, etc., based on a commonly used method for observing the metal structure, and then suspended in alumina. Mirror finish using liquid or diamond paste.

A grain boundary appears by chemically corroding the corresponding part using a corrosive liquid selected for each metal material for the mirror-finished part.
2. Next, the metal structure photograph image data is taken into the image processing device. Next, the metal structure is observed with a laser microscope, and the observation image data is taken directly into the image processing device (for example, a personal computer) or photographed during observation. The photograph is taken into the personal computer as image data that can be handled by the personal computer using a general-purpose device such as a camera input or a scanner.
3. Processing image data of metallographic photographs on a personal computer and determining grain boundaries The captured image data is processed on a personal computer in the steps described below.
(a) Read target image data.
(b) Remove noise by local averaging.
(c) Specify a point in any crystal grain on the captured image data.
(d) A closed curve including the specified point is set near the grain boundary of the crystal grain.
(e) The boundary line search is performed in the vicinity of the closed curve using the density information of the image data.
(f) Deform the closed curve based on the result of the boundary search.
(g) If the closed curve overlaps with all the boundaries defining the crystal grain boundary of the image data (FIG. 1) first taken into the personal computer, the closed curve is determined as the crystal grain boundary (FIG. 2).

  However, if the closed curve does not overlap with a part of the boundary line that defines the grain boundary of the image data captured in the personal computer, the above (d) to (f) ) Step is repeated and multiple closed curves are set and deformed, and the closed curve connecting the outermost curves among the deformed multiple closed curves overlaps all the boundary lines that define the grain boundaries on the image data Determines the closed curve connected as described above as a grain boundary.

If the shape of the crystal grain cannot be determined accurately due to image noise, etc., that is, the center point that is the first position is specified within the boundary line that defines the grain boundary of the crystal grain on the image data. The closed curve including the center point is set in the vicinity of the boundary line, and the closed curve is deformed based on the density information of the image data in the vicinity of the closed curve, and the deformed closed curve defines the grain boundary of the crystal grain on the image data. If it does not overlap with part or all of the boundary line to be determined, a crystal grain boundary is determined for each of a plurality of adjacent crystal grains so as to surround the crystal grain on the image data as described above. For the part of the closed curve that does not overlap with part or all of the boundary line that defines the grain boundary of the crystal grain, priority is given to the grain boundary of a plurality of adjacent crystal grains so as to surround the crystal grain. It is possible to determined the crystal grain boundaries of the crystal grains by.
4). Diagnosis of creep damage level Low-alloy steel, which is often used in boilers, is a highly ductile material. In the base metal part, there are few voids due to creep intergranular slip, and it takes the form of ductile fracture. Therefore, creep deformation is borne microscopically by deformation of crystal grains. From this, the degree of creep damage can be determined by quantifying the degree of deformation of crystal grains as a damage parameter.

If creep damage occurs in a metal material, the crystal grains generally flatten in the direction of the main stress, and therefore the degree of creep damage can be known based on the degree of flatness (degree of deformation of the crystal grains). FIG. 3 shows that when a stress of 7 kg / mm ² or less is applied to a steel pipe made of STPA24, a replica of the surface of the steel pipe is collected, and a plurality of (about 500) photographs taken by observing the replica under a microscope. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the deformation degree of a crystal grain calculated | required by processing a crystal grain with an image analyzer, and a creep damage degree. That is, as shown in FIG. 3A, the length of one of the crystal grains 1 in the principal stress direction is ai, the other length is bi, and bi is divided by ai (bi / ai) is α In the case of (deformation degree), as shown in FIG. 3B, the relationship between the α and the creep damage degree was obtained. In FIG. 3B, the solid line and the dotted line indicate the minimum value and the maximum value, respectively, of the degree of deformation of a plurality (about 500) of crystal grains present in the microscope field of view.

  Creep damage is the life of the consumed material (when the specified stress is applied, the time consumed from the start of the test until that time). The fracture life of the material (when the specified stress is applied, the test starts. To the time until creep rupture). Creep damage level = zero means the initial state where there is no creep damage, indicates that the creep damage level increases as the creep damage level increases from zero, and creep rupture occurs when creep damage level = 1. Indicates.

  Therefore, if the degree of deformation of the crystal grain is obtained from the crystal grain boundary determined by the crystal grain boundary determining means, it is based on a test curve of the degree of crystal grain deformation and the creep damage degree as shown in FIG. 3B as an example. Thus, the creep damage degree of the metal material to be observed can be obtained.

Examples of the present invention will be described below, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples, and can be appropriately modified and modified without departing from the technical scope of the present invention.
1. Drawing which shows each component of material structure observation apparatus FIG. 4: is a whole block diagram of the material structure observation apparatus of this invention. In FIG. 4, 2 is a laser microscope, 3 is a horizontal movement mechanism composed of a second pedestal and a third pedestal described later, 4 is a main controller of the laser microscope, and 5 is a movement mechanism for moving the objective lens of the laser microscope in the vertical direction. , 6 is a controller for the horizontal movement mechanism 3, 7 is a CCD camera, 8 is an illumination device with a diode, 9 is a controller for the CCD camera, 10 is a monitor for the material structure to be observed and a monitor for the CCD camera. Control PC.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of an optical path in the laser microscope. In FIG. 5, 11 is a semiconductor laser, 12 is an optical path, 13 is an objective lens, and 14 is an image sensor.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of the laser microscope main body. In FIG. 6, the laser microscope main body 15 has a substantially sealed structure, a heat exhaust hood 16 is attached to the top, and the vertical cylinder 17 is almost completely covered with a flexible cover 18. The microscope main body communicates with the outside only at a position where the objective lens 13 moves in the vertical direction. As described above, the laser microscope of the present invention has an advantage that malfunction due to dust is unlikely to occur because sufficient dust-proof measures are taken in consideration of the disadvantage of the optical device that is easily affected by dust. On the other hand, due to the substantially sealed structure, there is a drawback that the heat generated by the operation of the device tends to be trapped inside, so that the present invention has an exhaust heat hood at the top of the microscope body 15 in addition to the fins 19. 16 is attached. The exhaust heat hood 16 has a hollow rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a large amount of internal heat is dissipated from the left and right side surfaces, the front and rear surfaces, a part of the upper surface and the lower surface, so that an effect of suppressing the temperature rise of the device together with the fins 19 is achieved. Can be expected. The objective lens 13 can be moved in the vertical direction along the guide groove 21 in the cylindrical body 17 together with the sliding member 20 by a step motor built in the sliding member 20.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing a tilt mechanism of the laser microscope main body. In FIG. 7, the cylindrical body 17 (see FIG. 6) is sandwiched from above the flexible cover 18 (see FIG. 6) and is integrally fixed to the connecting member 22 (see FIG. 11) that supports the microscope body. The tilting member 23 is engaged with a groove 26 that is carved so as to protrude from the arcuate surface 25 of the first pedestal 24, and the laser microscope main body is moved to the arcuate surface 25 by adjusting a screw 47 described later. It is possible to tilt along either one of the directions 27 along the line. The first pedestal 24 is attached to the second pedestal 28.

  FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the second pedestal 28 and the third pedestal 29 that contacts the lower surface of the second pedestal 28. Reference numeral 30 denotes a first sliding member incorporating a step motor capable of reversible rotation, and is connected to a power source by a cable 31. Reference numeral 32 denotes a second sliding member incorporating a ball screw (see reference numeral 33 in FIG. 9) supported by the third pedestal 29. The first sliding member 30 and the second sliding member 32 are connected to the second pedestal 28, and a ball nut (see number 34 in FIG. 9) provided on the second sliding member 32 is screwed into the ball screw. By rotating the step motor built in the first sliding member 30 in one direction and driving the ball screw supported by the third pedestal 29, the first sliding member 30 and the second sliding member 32 together with the second sliding member 30 are driven. The pedestal 28 slides to the right along the guide member 35 on the third pedestal 29, and rotates the step motor built in the first sliding member 30 in the reverse direction so that the ball screw supported by the third pedestal 29 is By being driven, the second pedestal 28 is configured to slide to the left along the guide member 35 on the third pedestal 29 together with the first sliding member 30 and the second sliding member 32.

  Reference numeral 36 denotes a third sliding member incorporating a step motor capable of reversible rotation, and is connected to a power source by a cable 37. Reference numeral 38 denotes a fourth sliding member incorporating a ball screw (see reference numeral 33 in FIG. 9) supported by the fourth pedestal 39. The third sliding member 36 and the fourth sliding member 38 are connected to the third pedestal 29, and a ball nut (see number 34 in FIG. 9) provided on the fourth sliding member 38 is screwed into the ball screw. By rotating the step motor built in the third sliding member 36 in one direction and driving the ball screw supported by the fourth pedestal 39, the third sliding member 36 and the fourth sliding member 38 together with the third sliding member 36 are driven. The pedestal 29 slides forward in the drawing along the guide member 40 on the fourth pedestal 39, and rotates the step motor built in the third sliding member 36 in the reverse direction to support the ball screw supported by the fourth pedestal 39. , The third pedestal 29 together with the third sliding member 36 and the fourth sliding member 38 are configured to slide along the guide member 40 on the fourth pedestal 39 in a direction away from the front of the page. ing. Since the guide member 35 and the guide member 40 are arranged so as to intersect at a right angle, the second pedestal 28 and the third pedestal 29 can slide in directions orthogonal to each other in the horizontal plane.

  FIG. 10 is a front view showing a state in which the material structure observation device of the present invention is attached to an observation target by a fixing jig device. The CCD camera 7, the illumination device 8, and the cover 18 are omitted. The fourth pedestal 39 is attached to the base 41. Further, the base 41 is a tube body 43 to be observed by a total of three bolts, that is, left and right bolts 42, 42 and another bolt 42 on the opposite side of the drawing. Further, the belt 44 is wound around the tube body 43 and both ends of the belt 44 are locked by the hook-shaped members 45, and the hook-shaped members 45 are connected to the base 41 by the connecting members 46. The belt 44, the hook-shaped member 45 and the connecting member 46 constitute a fixing jig device. By adjusting the lengths of the bolts 42 and the belts 44, it is possible to fix them to pipe bodies having various diameters (for example, φ1, φ2). The screw 47 is for tilting the microscope main body 15 left and right. By turning the screw 47 in one direction, the microscope main body 15 is tilted to the right together with the cylindrical body 17 by an angle θ1, and by rotating the screw 47 in the reverse direction. The microscope body 15 can be tilted together with the cylindrical body 17 to the left by an angle θ2.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing the main part of the material structure observation apparatus of the present invention. 48 is a power supply for illumination equipment, and 47a is a screw for fixing the microscope main body tilted by the tilting mechanism shown in FIG.
2. As shown in FIG. 6, the present invention has an exhaust heat hood 16 on the top of the microscope main body 15 as a heat dissipation means in addition to the fins 19. did. In FIG. 6, the temperature measuring points are the surface 49 of the fin 19, the upper surface 50 of the exhaust heat hood or the upper surface 51 of the frame (when there is no exhaust heat hood), the interior 52 on the front side of the frame side, and the rear side of the frame side. This is the interior 53 on the side.

FIG. 12 shows the temperature transition when there is no exhaust heat hood, and FIG. 13 shows the temperature transition when there is an exhaust heat hood. As shown in FIG. 12, when there is no exhaust heat hood, the temperature of the upper surface of the frame is about 25 ° C., but the surface temperature of the fin reaches about 43 ° C. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 13, by providing the exhaust heat hood, the temperature at any measurement point is in the range of about 30 ° C. ± 5 ° C., the maximum surface temperature is lowered by about 8 ° C., and the overall temperature difference is also You can see that it is getting smaller.
3. Next, a method for diagnosing the degree of creep damage from the degree of deformation of crystal grains using image data obtained by an observation apparatus using a laser microscope will be described in detail.
(1) Setting of apparatus First, as shown in FIG. 10, a fixing jig apparatus is fixed with respect to the tubular body 43 which is a diagnostic object. At this time, the horizontality is adjusted by appropriately adjusting the length of the bolt 42. Next, a laser microscope is attached to a fixing jig apparatus, and it is set as the state shown in FIG. The horizontal alignment of the microscope main body is performed by driving the step motor by the controller 6 in FIG. 4 and sliding the second pedestal 28 and the third pedestal 29 (see FIG. 8) as described above.

  Next, in FIG. 4, while viewing the image displayed on the monitor 10 a of the control personal computer 10, the controller 5 drives the step motor to appropriately move the objective lens of the camera body in the vertical direction to focus the image. Do. Further, when diagnosing the corner, the microscope main body may be tilted by an appropriate angle by the tilt mechanism shown in FIG.

  At this time, in FIG. 11, an image displayed on the monitor 10 a of the control personal computer 10 while adjusting the brightness of the diagnostic device by adjusting the brightness of the lighting device 8 and adjusting the appearance of the diagnostic region observed by the CCD camera 7. While confirming, the state where the diagnostic part is clearly observed is ensured while finely adjusting the lighting direction and brightness of the lighting device 8. In this way, the preparation for obtaining an observation image of the diagnostic region with the laser microscope is completed.

  Next, information relating to the diagnosis part is input. As information regarding this diagnosis, data such as diagnosis date and time, diagnosis equipment (for example, XX power plant, second boiler), and diagnosis location (for example, first vent part of the first high-pressure pipe) are stored in advance. Input to the control personal computer 10. In addition, if necessary, pretreatment is performed on the diagnostic region to cause a grain boundary to appear.

Thus, preparations before diagnosis are completed, and thereafter, center point designation means (first / second / third center point designation means) and closed curve setting means (first / second / third) incorporated in the personal computer 10. Closed curve setting means), closed curve deformation means (first / second / third closed curve deformation means), crystal grain boundary determination means (first / second crystal grain boundary determination means), first calculation processing means and second calculation processing. The creep damage degree can be diagnosed automatically by means.
(2) Image data capture The observation image of the surface of the tubular body to be diagnosed is captured in the personal computer 10 of FIG. 4 as image data that can be handled by the personal computer (FIG. 14A).

At this time, if the observation video is a monochrome video, it is imported to a personal computer as multi-gradation image data (shading data). If the observation video is a color, the color image is converted to a monochrome image, and a multi-tone image is obtained. Import it to a computer as data (shading data). Thereby, the shading information (light / dark information) of the video can be taken into the personal computer as image data expressed by the shading value (a value obtained by converting the degree of brightness).
(3) Removal of noise In order to remove noise, the image data is smoothed by a local averaging method (FIG. 14B).

The smoothing by the local averaging method is a process of calculating the average value of the gray value of the target pixel and its surrounding pixels as a new value of the target pixel, and generally performing processing for all the pixels of the image data. This process can remove noise in the image data.
(4) Specifying the center point and setting the closed curve For any crystal grain on the image data after noise removal, specify the point within the grain as the center point, and search for the boundary of the crystal grain radially from this point Is set (FIG. 14C), and a closed curve is set by connecting points on the boundary search line.

For example, as shown in FIG. 15A, the first circular closed curve 62 including the center point 61 is set. The size of the closed curve at this time is set according to the size of the crystal grains. That is, a closed curve is set by continuously connecting adjacent points on a search line on a search line set radially from the center point 61 and having a certain distance set from the center point as an initial state. The closed curve is preferably set in the vicinity of the boundary line that defines the crystal grain boundary on the image data, but is not necessarily set inside the boundary line, and may be set outside the boundary line.
(5) Boundary line search method for defining the grain boundary and deformation of the closed curve An example of the position of the grain boundary and the density distribution is as shown in FIG. 16, and the grain boundary becomes black in a photograph that can be seen with the naked eye. However, since the numerical value of the black part is small in the image data in the personal computer, the gray value is small on each line A1 to A16 of the boundary line search set radially from the center point 63 as shown in FIG. A point is searched (FIG. 14D). Hereinafter, a specific method will be described.

For example, in FIG. 17, the distances L ₁₆ , L ₁ , L ₂ between the points a ₁₆ , a ₁ , a ₂ and the center point 63 where the respective radiations intersect the closed curve are calculated for the radiations A ₁₆ , A ₁ , and A ₂ . The average distance L _m (arithmetic average of L ₁₆ , L ₁ and L ₂ ) is obtained. Further, a difference between the average distance and the distance from the center point of the point is obtained. As an evaluation value for determining the boundary line, a coefficient (for example, a constant α) is used for “the gray value of the image data” and “the absolute value of the difference between the distance from the center point 63 of the point and the average distance L _m ”. The total value of those multiplied by is adopted, and a point having a small total value is searched.

That is, if the gray value of the image data at the point a ₁ on the radiation A 1 is c ₁ , the evaluation value of the point a ₁ is “c ₁ + α | L ₁ −L _m |”. Radiation from the point a ₁ A1 Assuming that the gray value of the image data of the point a ₁ ′ away from the top by 1 pixel is c ₁ ′ and the distance between the point a ₁ ′ and the center point 63 is L ₁ ′, the evaluation value of the point a ₁ ′ is “C ₁ ′ + α | L ₁ ′ −L _m |”. Also, "c ₁ the gray value of the image data of" a ₁ point separated 2 pixels outside the upper radiation A1 from the point a _1, and "the distance between the center point 63 L _1" point a ₁ and the point The evaluation value of a ₁ ″ is “c ₁ ″ + α | L ₁ ″ −L _m |”. Further, the evaluation value can be calculated for a point one pixel away from the point a ₁ on the radiation A1 or a point two pixels away. Of the five evaluation values calculated in this way, the point having the smallest evaluation value is searched.

Next, the distances L ₁ , L ₂ , L ₃ between the points a ₁ , a ₂ , a ₃ and the center point 63 where the radiations intersect the closed curve are calculated for the radiations A1, A2, and A3, and the average distances are calculated. Find L _n . The average distance L _n is used to search for a point a ₂ on the radiation A2 and a point having a small evaluation value in the vicinity thereof, and on the radiation A2 in the same manner as the method obtained as described above on the radiation A1. Search for the point with the smallest evaluation value.

Furthermore, radiation A3, A4, A5, · · ·, on A16, one after another, the points _{a 3, a 4, a 5} , ···, to calculate the evaluation value in the vicinity thereof and a _16, on each radiation Search for the point with the smallest evaluation value.

In this way, the points having the smallest evaluation value searched for on the radiations A1, A2, A3,..., A16 are respectively found as new points a ₁ , a ₂ , a ₃ ,. ₁₆ is determined, and the first calculation is completed. By continuously connecting the newly determined points, a deformed closed curve as shown in FIG. 15B is obtained.

  Next, in the second calculation, the smallest evaluation value is obtained on the radiation A1, A2, A3, A4,..., A16 by the same method as described above for the closed curve obtained in the first calculation. Search for points with a closed curve. Thereafter, when calculation is performed as the third time, the fourth time,..., The closed curve is deformed every time the calculation is performed, and the crystal grain boundary of the metal crystal grains is approached. FIGS. 15C to 15K show how the closed curve is deformed based on the second to tenth calculation results related to the boundary line search.

  This boundary search method is characterized by searching for points with a small evaluation value, but even if the calculation is repeated more than necessary, the evaluation value may not change. It is economical to finish.

Of course, the number of radiations is not limited to 16, and any number can be adopted. Furthermore, the number of combinations of radiation for searching for the boundary line is not limited to three, and any number of combinations can be adopted, and the number of search points for searching for the boundary line is limited to five. Is not to be done.
(6) Determination of Grain Boundary When the closed curve shown in FIG. 15 (k) overlaps all the boundary lines 62a that define the crystal grain boundary shown in FIG. 15 (a), the closed curve is determined as the crystal grain boundary. (FIG. 14E).
(7) Determination of processing of next crystal grain boundary Then, it is determined whether or not the next crystal grain boundary is processed (FIG. 14 (f)). In the case of YES, FIG. 14 (c) to FIG. Step e) is repeated. If no, a grain boundary region is extracted (FIG. 14G), and the process ends (FIG. 14H).

  However, when the closed curve obtained by the boundary line search process as described above does not overlap with a part of the boundary line that defines the grain boundary, for example, the closed curve 64 of FIG. 18B is the original image of FIG. When the boundary line 65 that defines the grain boundary on the data does not overlap with a part of the boundary line 65 or when the closed curve 66 in FIG. 19B is the boundary line 67 that defines the grain boundary on the original image data in FIG. If it does not overlap, specify another point as the center point in the same crystal grain as shown in FIG. 18 (c) or FIG. 19 (c), and set a plurality of closed curves as described above The boundary curve 65 or the boundary curve 65 defining the crystal grain boundary of the original image data is a closed curve connecting the outermost curves among the plurality of closed curves 64, 68 or 66, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73. Outermost when overlapped with all 67 A closed curve defined by connecting curve to determine the crystal grain boundary, grain shape is determined as the white parts in FIG. 18 (d) or FIG. 19 (d).

  Further, when the shape of the crystal grain cannot be accurately determined due to image noise or the like, that is, as shown in FIG. 20A, a closed curve obtained by deforming the crystal grain A as described above is obtained. When it does not overlap with a part of the boundary line that defines the crystal grain boundary of the crystal grain A on the image data (as shown by the dotted line, the part protruding from the boundary line reaches the inside of the crystal grains 82, 83, 85) ), The crystal grain boundary is determined by the above method in each of the adjacent crystal grains 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86 so as to surround the crystal grain A, and the crystal grain boundary of the crystal grain A on the image data is defined. For the part of the closed curve that does not overlap with a part of the boundary line, the crystal grain boundary of the crystal grain A is determined by giving priority to the crystal grain boundary of the adjacent crystal grains 82, 83, 85 so as to surround the crystal grain A. This Can.

  As shown in FIG. 20B, the closed curve obtained by deforming the crystal grain A as described above overlaps with a part of the boundary line defining the crystal grain boundary of the crystal grain A on the image data. If not (as shown by the dotted line, the portion protruding from the boundary line reaches the inside of the crystal grain 82), the adjacent crystal grains 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86 so as to surround the crystal grain A In each case, the crystal grain boundary is determined by the above-described method, and the portion of the closed curve that does not overlap with a part of the boundary line defining the crystal grain boundary of the crystal grain A on the image data is By giving priority to the crystal grain boundary, the crystal grain boundary of the crystal grain A can be determined.

After repeating these operations and determining all the crystal grain shapes, calculate numerical data such as aspect ratio, ferret diameter ratio, equivalent circle diameter, area, and perimeter from each crystal grain shape. Can do.
(8) Calculation of deformation degree of crystal grain Based on the crystal grain boundary determined as described above, as shown in FIG. 3A, one length ai in the main stress direction of the crystal grain 1; The other length bi and a numerical value obtained by dividing bi by ai (degree of deformation = α) are obtained by the first arithmetic processing means of the personal computer 10.
(9) Evaluation of Creep Damage Degree The storage means of the personal computer 10 stores, for example, a test curve of the creep damage degree and the degree of deformation of the crystal grains for the same material as that to be diagnosed as shown in FIG. The second calculation processing means obtains the creep damage degree based on the test curve from the degree of deformation of the crystal grains obtained by the first calculation processing means. At the same time, on the screen of the monitor 10a of the personal computer 10 shown in FIG. 4, a display of the degree of deformation of the crystal grains of the diagnostic site obtained as described above is displayed on the test curve. If necessary, it can be printed out to a printer connected to the personal computer 10.

  According to the present invention, the degree of creep damage can be diagnosed easily and in a short time at an actual site as described above.

  The present invention can be applied to boiler remaining life diagnosis and damage evaluation of various structural members using a creep sensor (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3517229).

It is a figure which shows an example of the image data of the metallographic photograph taken in into the personal computer. It is a figure which shows the example of the crystal grain boundary obtained by this invention based on the image data of FIG. FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams for explaining a method for obtaining the creep damage degree by the crystal grain deformation method. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a material structure observation apparatus of the present invention. It is a schematic perspective view of the optical path in a laser microscope. It is a schematic block diagram of a laser microscope main body. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the tilting mechanism of a laser microscope main body. It is a perspective view which shows the 3rd base contact | abutted to a 2nd base and a 2nd base lower surface. It is a perspective view which shows the screwing state of a ball screw and a ball nut. It is a front view which shows the state which attached the material structure observation apparatus of this invention to the to-be-observed object with the fixing jig apparatus. It is a side view which shows the principal part of the material structure | tissue observation apparatus of this invention. It is a temperature transition of each part of the laser microscope when there is no waste heat hood. It is a temperature transition of each part of the laser microscope when there is an exhaust heat hood. It is a figure which shows an example of the image processing step by the personal computer of this invention. FIGS. 15A to 15K are diagrams showing an example of deforming a closed curve in a crystal grain according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the position of a grain boundary, and a light and shade distribution. It is a figure explaining the method of searching the boundary line which defines a crystal grain boundary from the point on a closed curve. FIGS. 18A to 18D are diagrams showing another example of determining a crystal grain boundary according to the present invention based on image data. FIGS. 19A to 19D are diagrams showing still another example in which the crystal grain boundaries are determined according to the present invention based on the image data. FIGS. 20A and 20B are diagrams showing still another example in which a crystal grain boundary is determined according to the present invention based on image data. It is a figure which shows the crystal grain boundary obtained by the conventional image processing technique.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Crystal grain 2 Laser microscope 3 Horizontal direction moving mechanism 4 Laser microscope main controller 5 Objective lens moving mechanism controller 6 Horizontal direction moving mechanism controller 7 CCD camera 8 Illumination equipment 9 CCD camera controller 10 Personal computer 11 Semiconductor laser 12 Optical path 13 Objective lens 14 Image sensor 15 Laser microscope main body 16 Heat exhaust hood 17 Tube 18 Cover 19 Fin 20 Slide member 21 Guide groove 22 Connecting member 23 Tilt member 24 First base 25 Arc-shaped surface 26 Groove 28 Second base 29 Third Pedestal 30 First sliding member 31 Cable 32 Second sliding member 33 Ball screw 34 Ball nut 35 Guide member 36 Third sliding member 37 Cable 38 Fourth sliding member 39 Fourth base 40 Guide member 41 Base 42 Bo G 43 Tube 44 Belt 45 Saddle-shaped member 46 Connecting member 47 Screw 47a Screw 48 Power source for lighting device 49 Fin surface 50 Heat exhaust hood 51 Upper surface of frame 51 Front side of frame side 53 Front side of frame side 53 Internal 61 Center point 62 Closed curve 63 Center point 62a Boundary line 64 Closed curve 65 Boundary line 66 Closed curve 67 Boundary line 68 Closed curve 69 Closed curve 70 Closed curve 71 Closed curve 72 Closed curve 73 Closed curve 81 Crystal grain 82 Crystal grain 83 Crystal grain 84 Crystal grain 85 Crystal grain 85 Crystal grain 85 Crystal grain

Claims (7)

  A semiconductor laser that is provided in a sealed microscope main body and emits a laser, an optical path provided in the microscope main body that guides the laser emitted from the semiconductor laser by bending, and an optical path attached to the tip of the optical path An objective lens that is movable in the vertical direction, an image sensor that receives the reflected laser provided in the optical path, a first pedestal that supports the microscope body so as to be tiltable in the left-right direction, and the first pedestal is attached. A second pedestal and a third pedestal that abuts against the lower surface of the second pedestal, the second pedestal and the third pedestal being movable in two orthogonal directions, the objective lens, the second pedestal and the third pedestal A material structure observation apparatus comprising: a moving mechanism for moving a pedestal; and a tilting mechanism for tilting a microscope main body; and a fixing jig device for fixing the microscope main body to an observation target.   2. The material structure observation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an exhaust heat hood is attached to the top of the microscope body.   An apparatus for observing a material structure on the basis of image data of a metallographic photograph taken into an image processing apparatus, and a central point that is the first position inside a boundary line that defines a grain boundary on the image data. A center line designating means for designating, a closed curve setting means for setting a closed curve including the center point in the vicinity of the boundary line, a closed curve transforming means for transforming the closed curve based on the density information of the image data in the vicinity of the closed curve, and When the closed curve overlaps all the boundary lines that define the grain boundary on the image data, the crystal grain boundary determining means that uses the closed curve as the grain boundary, and the crystal from the grain boundary determined by the grain boundary determining means The first arithmetic processing means for obtaining the degree of deformation of the grains, and the crystal grain obtained by the first arithmetic processing means based on the test curve of the creep damage degree and the degree of crystal grain deformation of the same material previously stored in the storage means Deformation Material structure observation apparatus characterized by having a second arithmetic processing means for calculating the creep damage degree from.   An apparatus for observing a material structure on the basis of image data of a metallographic photograph taken into an image processing apparatus, the first center being the first position inside a boundary line defining a grain boundary on the image data First center point designating means for designating a point, first closed curve setting means for setting a first closed curve including the first center point in the vicinity of the boundary line, and based on grayscale information of image data in the vicinity of the first closed curve. The first closed curve deforming means for deforming a closed curve and the first center point inside the same crystal grain when the deformed first closed curve does not overlap with a part of the boundary line defining the grain boundary on the image data Second center point specifying means for specifying one or more different center points at different positions, and one or two or more closed curves including center points different from the first center point in the vicinity of the boundary line The second closed curve setting means to be set and the vicinity of the closed curve Second closed curve deforming means for deforming the closed curve based on the grayscale information of the image data, and all of the boundary lines that define the crystal grain boundary on the image data by the closed curve connecting the outermost curves among the plurality of deformed closed curves Grain boundary determining means that uses a closed curve that overlaps all of the boundary lines when they overlap as a grain boundary, and first arithmetic processing means for determining the degree of deformation of the crystal grain from the crystal grain boundary determined by the grain boundary determining means And a second calculation for obtaining the creep damage degree from the degree of deformation of the crystal grains obtained by the first arithmetic processing means based on the test curve of the creep damage degree and the degree of crystal grain deformation of the same material stored in advance in the storage means A material structure observation apparatus characterized by comprising processing means.   An apparatus for observing a material structure on the basis of image data of a metallographic photograph taken into an image processing apparatus, at an initial position within a boundary line defining a grain boundary of the crystal grain on the image data. First center point designating means for designating a certain center point, first closed curve setting means for setting a closed curve including the center point in the vicinity of the boundary line, and deformation of the closed curve based on density information of image data in the vicinity of the closed curve A first closed curve deforming means that is adjacent to the crystal grain on the image data when the deformed closed curve does not overlap part or all of the boundary line that defines the crystal grain boundary of the crystal grain on the image data. A second center point designating means for designating the center point as the first position inside the boundary line defining the grain boundary for each of the plurality of crystal grains to be set, and a closed curve including the center point is set in the vicinity of the boundary line Second closed curve setting means, second closed curve deforming means for deforming the closed curve based on the density information of the image data in the vicinity of the closed curve, and all of the boundary lines where the deformed closed curve defines the grain boundaries on the image data First crystal grain boundary determining means that a closed curve that overlaps all of the boundary lines in the case of overlapping is the crystal grain boundary of each adjacent crystal grain so as to surround the crystal grain, and the crystal grain boundary on the image data For the part of the closed curve that does not overlap with part or all of the boundary line that defines the crystal grain boundary, the grain boundary of the crystal grain is given priority by giving priority to the crystal grain boundary of the adjacent crystal grains so as to surround the crystal grain. Stored in the storage means in advance, a first arithmetic processing means for determining the degree of deformation of the crystal grains from the crystal grain boundaries determined by the first and second grain boundary determining means, The And a second arithmetic processing means for obtaining a creep damage degree from the degree of deformation of the crystal grain obtained by the first arithmetic processing means based on a test curve of the creep damage degree and the crystal grain deformation degree of one material. Material structure observation device.   An apparatus for observing a material structure on the basis of image data of a metallographic photograph taken into an image processing apparatus, at an initial position within a boundary line defining a grain boundary of the crystal grain on the image data. First center point designating means for designating a certain center point, first closed curve setting means for setting a closed curve including the center point in the vicinity of the boundary line, and deformation of the closed curve based on density information of image data in the vicinity of the closed curve A first closed curve deforming means that is adjacent to the crystal grain on the image data when the deformed closed curve does not overlap part or all of the boundary line that defines the crystal grain boundary of the crystal grain on the image data. A second center point designating means for designating the second center point as the first position inside the boundary line defining the grain boundary for each of the plurality of crystal grains to be bounded, and a second closed curve including the second center point as a boundary Near the line A second closed curve setting means for setting the second closed curve, a second closed curve deforming means for deforming the second closed curve based on the density information of the image data in the vicinity of the second closed curve, and the deformed second closed curve defines a grain boundary on the image data. A third center point designating means for designating one or two or more other center points at positions different from the second center point in the same crystal grain when they do not overlap with a part of the demarcating boundary line; A third closed curve setting means for setting one or more closed curves including a central point different from the two central points in the vicinity of the boundary line; and a second closed curve that deforms the closed curve based on the grayscale information of the image data in the vicinity of the closed curve. If the closed curve connecting the outermost curve of the three closed curve deformation means and all of the deformed closed curves overlaps all of the boundary lines that define the grain boundary on the image data, the closed curve that overlaps all of the boundary lines is Take the crystal grains The first grain boundary determining means that is a crystal grain boundary of each adjacent crystal grain, and the part of the closed curve that does not overlap with part or all of the boundary line that defines the crystal grain boundary of the crystal grain on the image data The second and second crystal grain determining means for determining the crystal grain boundary of the crystal grains by prioritizing the grain boundaries of a plurality of adjacent crystal grains so as to surround the crystal grains, and the first and second crystal grains Based on a first calculation processing means for obtaining the degree of deformation of the crystal grain from the grain boundary determined by the boundary determination means, and a test curve of the creep damage degree and the degree of deformation of the crystal grain stored in the storage means in advance. A material structure observing apparatus comprising: a second arithmetic processing unit that determines a creep damage degree from the degree of deformation of crystal grains determined by the first arithmetic processing unit. 7. The material structure observation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image data of the metal structure photograph taken into the image processing apparatus is image data from the image sensor according to claim 1.

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